Ctenotus Storr, 1964

Rabosky, Daniel L., Doughty, Paul & Huang, Huateng, 2017, Lizards in pinstripes: morphological and genomic evidence for two new species of scincid lizards within Ctenotus piankai Storr and C. duricola Storr (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Australian arid zone, Zootaxa 4303 (1), pp. 1-26 : 14

Ctenotus Storr, 1964

Comb-eared skinks or Striped skinks

Type species— Lacerta (= Ctenotus ) taeniolata White, 1790, by original designation.

Diagnosis. A large group of small to medium- sized sphenomorphine scincid lizards, characterized by cylindrical body shape, long snout and tail, smooth shiny scales, eyelids without transparent window, parietals in contact, pointed ear lobules, well-developed short limbs each with five narrow digits terminating with a claw, and color pattern usually involving longitudinal stripes often with complex sides with spots and dashes. Terrestrial; diurnal; egg-laying.

Distribution. Mainland Australia and C. spaldingi in southern New Guinea.

Etymology. From the Greek kten (comb) and ot (ear), forming ‘comb-eared’ in reference to the conspicuous ear lobules ( Storr 1964).